1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to forage wagons and other machines of the type which include driven components such as beaters, conveyors, or other mechanisms driven by a power take-off shaft. More particularly, the invention relates to safety clutches which can be used in forage wagons or the like and which provide means to interrupt the power to driven parts of the forage wagon whenever necessary and further relates to secondary safety means for also interrupting power transmission to the forage wagon driven beaters and main conveyor in response to actuation of the safety clutch.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In forage wagons or similar machines of the type which include power driven parts such as rotatable beaters and chain driven conveyors and which are powered by means of a rotating power take-off shaft or drive shaft extending from the towing vehicle, in the interests of the safety of the operator, it is desirable to have a means for immediately disconnecting the power input to the forage wagon and to provide means to quickly stop the various driven components of such vehicles. Safety clutches commonly used in such forage wagons are shown for example in the patent to Kasten, U.S. Pat. No. 3,276,554 issued Oct. 4, 1966 and in the patent to Janssen, U.S. Pat. No. 3,161,269 issued Dec. 15, 1964. The Janssen patent is assigned to an assignee in common with that of the present invention.